Trader Joe's?

At least you can purchase a bottle of liquor and ibuprofen all at the same time...

It's been even worse within recent memory. For many years, NYC liquor shops couldn't sell ANYTHING but booze. No food, no accessories, no books, not even a corkscrew.

As far as I know it is still that way. No telling what all those tipsy oenophiles will do when they get those sharp corkscrews in their hands.

Robin,

I think that last remark was aimed at you...

Slightly off topic, but...

Robin said:

It's worth remembering that "liberal" NYC is immediately surrounded by acres of conservative suburbanites, and beyond that downstate belt, there are an awful lot of places in the Empire State where you'll find hillbillies who'd feel right at home in Kentucky's hollers ... and some of them are in the state Legislature.

Amen Robin! As a former employee of the NY State Governor's Office (and a life-long Long Island girl) I had the pleasure of being acquainted with so many of the state's fine leaders and constituents from north of Albany. That experience drove Mike & I to relo here and we've never regretted it for a second!

On topic...
I have always been curious about the whole issue where Liquor Barn can sell groceries, but Kroger/Fresh Market/Whole Foods, cannot? Logic anyone?

Here's an answer, but don't expect it to be logical: it's LEGISLATED

Sales of packaged liquor requires a liquor license. Per Kentucky revised statutes, a wine and spirits license may not be granted to (I'm editing) " any business where a substantial portion of the commercial transactions are for staple retail groceries or gas and lubricating oil. " In other words, the liquor stores had their lobbyists push leglislation that does not allow grocery or convenient stores to compete with them. And there are no such licenses required to sell groceries so Liquor Barn (and anybody else) can sell groceries as much as they want....

Make sense?
Deb

And, I would imagine, lubricating oil also.

We just moved from the Hartford, CT area to Louisvile, where there is a Trader Joe's without liquor. It competes with the upscale Whole Foods nearby because it sells food at a much cheaper price and has many decent generic brand items. I also had to laugh about bizarre liquor laws- CT doesn't sell liquor after 9pm and only changed this last year. Sundays are out for liquor sales, and there is no selling at all except for "package stores". So don't feel alone with regard to this issue.

Does anyone know the latest on Trader Joe's? Are they coming to Louisville?

I was checking out downtown housing last week. I was at a Todd Blue Property and was asking about others. They said they want to develop the property across from Slugger Field (currently a parking lot). They want to make it a unique property that includes an IMAX or movie theater and possibly a Trader Joe's, among other things.